Can't Clip These Wings

Look for the Wings to fight to capture a national championship in 2011

What's In A Name?

We begin
today's recap with a bit of an English lesson:

Buffalo
(n.)- A city of western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie on the
Canadian border. It is a major Great Lakes port of entry and an important
manufacturing and milling center. Population: 276,000.

Buffalo
(n.)-

a. Any of several oxlike Old World
mammals of the family Bovidae, such as the water buffalo and African buffalo.

b. The North American bison, Bison bison.

Buffalo
(v.) buf·fa·loed, buf·fa·lo·ing, buf·fa·loe

1. To intimidate, as by a display of
confidence or authority: "The Wing's storied history buffaloed many of their ECRHA opponents this year."

2. To deceive; hoodwink: "With a 9
man roster at nationals they were able to buffalo
many opponents at this year's national tournament."

3. To confuse; bewilder: "The
amount of toe drags I saw Tyler Walser perform this year was absolutely buffaloing."*

*Note: All joking aside I am serious
I've never seen a team toe drag so much in my entire life.

Yes, the word buffalo is synonymous with many different definitions however
this season the name SUNY Buffalo was success.

The Good

Williamsville,
NY native Tyler Walser continued his dominance in the NCRHA leading the nation
in points for the second year in a row and led his team in every offensive
category again, a feat he has accomplished every year since joining the ECRHA. Walser
however, was supported by fellow skill players Alex Durinka and Chris Kendall
who combined garnished 93 points during the 2009-2010. The three headed monster
of Walser, Durinka and Kendall along with the rest of the SUNY Buffalo squad
put up an ECRHA high 141 goals during their 18 game undefeated regular season.

The Bad

The Wings
often had to rely on the stellar goaltending of Alexx Christie who led the
entire nation in saves made (810) and was fourth in the NCRHA in save
percentage (.881). If the Wings
hope to advance past the final four next year, they will have to be a little
more defensively sound. With the amount of shots Christie faces on average per
game it’s a matter of time before the proverbial straw breaks the camel’s back
as it did in the 9-1 loss to Arizona State in the National Semifinals.

The Ugly

With only
an eight man roster this year during the national final and losing five of
those eight players SUNY Buffalo is going to be at a serious issue keeping themselves
as the pinnacle of the ECRHA, after such a strong showing at this year's National Tournament.

Looking Forward

For the outlook Buffalo Roller Hockey President Bryan Feiler had this to say:

"We
are losing 7 players to graduation this year, including 5 from the D1 team. To
replace them we have people emailing us from Long Island, Hudson Valley, and
even as far as California and Alberta, Canada. Also, we should have a couple
players coming in from the Rochester area that have played college hockey in
the NJCAA. We have two freshman goalies coming in that have played tournament
hockey, which either could play on either team."

They look
like they're definitely going to have it together for the 2010-2011 season
expect The Wings to fight tooth and nail to retain it's position as the
"Beast of The East".

Next Team; SUNY Buffalo B

The views and opinions of Ian Prescott's season recaps
are expressly his own and do not reflect the views or opinons of the
ECRHA, Northeastern University or any other of the NCRHA member
organizations. Furthermore each season recap is completely objectional
from the writer's standpoint.